This is what a league source toldNFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, per the latter's colleague at NFL.com, Chris Wesseling. Freeman's request for a trade comes just one week after he denied any trade rumors.

According to Wesseling,"there are too many factors working against a swap before the Oct. 29 deadline." Rapoport even spoke with two NFL general managers who both believe nobody will likely pursue Freeman unless a prominent starting quarterback gets injured.

Freeman's $6.44 million salary and damaged reputation can also work against him. Rapoport notes the quarterback is "not viewed as a hard worker" in Wesseling's report.

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Timeswrites about the team's decision to go with rookie Mike Glennon as the starting quarterback in the Buccaneers' game against the Arizona Cardinals on September 29.

Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano reportedly consulted with general manager Mark Dominik and ownership regarding the decison to bench Freeman in favor of Glennon. Stroud adds that Freeman "never seemed to be Greg Schiano's kind of quarterback."

Schiano says the decision revolved around what the team has achieved so far in 2013.

"This was a performance-based decision, and the fact of the matter is we were not getting the job done on the field.

"We've lost eight of nine games (dating to last season) and haven't played particularly well on offense. Although it's not completely the quarterback's fault -- I understand that -- that position touches the ball every play."

What's even more telling is that other teams in the league are aware of Freeman's teammates not objecting to his benching, per Rapoport.

Tampa Bay has sputtered to an 0-3 start with Freeman passing for just two touchdowns and getting intercepted twice during that span. He is currently at the bottom among NFL quarterbacks in terms of completion rate with a 45.3 percent accuracy, according to USA Today Sports' Jim Corbett.

When Schiano declared,"Mike's our starting quarterback from this point forward," it may have effectively ended Freeman's tenure in Tampa Bay.

The 25-year-old Freeman is in his fifth NFL season. He was taken 17th overall by the Buccaneers in the 2009 draft and has so far thrown for 13,534 yards and 80 touchdowns while getting intercepted a total of 66 times, per ESPN stats.